Seven dead, 26 hurt in Ormara road crash

QUETTA/ KARACHI:

At least seven people were killed and 26 others injured on Wednesday in a road accident on the coastal highway in Balochistan.

A statement issued by the Pakistan Navy said that at around 5am, a speeding coach travelling from Jiwani to Karachi rammed into a trailer truck at Basol, approximately 35 kilometres west of Ormara town in Gwadar district.

Navy and civil administration’s rescue teams rushed to the scene to provide first aid to the victims. The deceased and the wounded were shifted to the PNS Darmaan Jah in Ormara.

However, eight severely injured victims were taken to Karachi on a Fokker aircraft of the navy and admitted in the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

Dr Seemin Jamali, who heads the emergency ward at the JPMC, said: “Most of the injured brought in by the navy have fractures, but one is in a critical state.”

The wounded receiving treatment in Karachi were identified as Usman, 19, Arif, 19, Adil, 20, Abdul Kareem, 25, Shah Alam, 30, Abdul Raheem, 35, Hayat, 40, and Suleman, 50.

While the deceased and the remaining injured could not be identified by the time this report was filed, sources in Gwadar said the victims worked for a fishing company.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2015.